Taliban insurgents overran a district in one of the northern Afghan provinces hit by a powerful earthquake this week, underlining the security problems that have hampered efforts to get emergency relief to remote mountainous regions.<\/p>\n
Officials said fighters seized control of the district capital of Darqand in Takhar province, on the border with Tajikistan in the early hours of Wednesday, continuing a campaign that has intensified across the country this year.<\/p>\n
Atiq Haideri, the provincial deputy police chief, said Taliban militants overran Darqad district on Wednesday morning following heavy clashes with Afghan security forces.<\/p>\n
He confirmed the withdrawal of all security personnel from Darqad and the district\u2019s fall into Taliban hands, without providing\u00a0any information on potential casualties among security forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have retreated tactically. We can retake the town whenever we want,\u201d Haideri claimed.<\/p>\n
Tahir Khan, a local resident, said Taliban terrorists captured Darqad without any resistance from Afghan security forces, adding, \u201cMany parts of Darqad are now under Taliban\u2019s control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the militants have killed a dozen Afghan policemen in the battle for the district. He said two Taliban militants were also killed in the battle for Darqad.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Afghan army troopers backed by security forces have killed more than 60 Taliban militants and wounded nearly three dozen others in a series of clean-up operations across the strife-torn country over the past 24 hours.<\/p>\n
The Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that 63 militants were killed and nine others injured in a series of operations carried out in the provinces of Badakhshan, Faryab, Ghazni, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kandahar, Kapisa, Kunduz, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Nangarhar, Paktia, Takhar, Urozgan and Zabul.<\/p>\n
The statement added that eight Taliban members were also arrested during the offensives, without providing any information about potential casualties among soldiers and security forces.<\/p>\n
Afghan soldiers also confiscated light and heavy weaponry and defused several rounds of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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